Superposition
by Beer-monster
Summary: One man, two women. One his gentle soulmate. While the other a broken hearted soldier. Peace of understanding. Is true love just about that ONE? Or are they two parts of the same solution? Nx1xR
1. Similia Similibus Curantur

This fic is a joint venture um things by Beer-monster and RyanEX2000.

Disclaimer: Neither of us own Gundam Wing. All Ryan has is a Yugi-oh deck and a sorrel fetish and all I have is a hot arse. If I owned GW, the show would just be Club Beer but with robots….that's entertainment.

Also this is kind of an experimental fic. We kind of want to fiddle an d challenge the usual idea of romance, pairings and love triangles...to test a hypothesis of mine (Beer's). So even though it has been posted in a 1xR forum there is NO PRESET PAIRING. It's a love story that could go either way. Just warning you. Hope you like it.    
  
**Superposition**

By Beer and Ryan.

**Chapter One:**

Similia similibus curantur 

_The most difficult thing that you can do is to watch the person you love, love someone else. _

_--Unknown_

The sparkle of the fluttering snowflakes twirled in perfect reflection upon the mirror-like windows of the huge skyscraper that stuck at a sky alight with the muted orange halo of ambient light. The street caught the rim of the globe motif that represented the Earth Sphere Unified Nations, making the sign glimmer like the hope and order it represented.

The snow spiralled and danced as it fell to the streets below. Here and there bearded replicas of jolly St Nick rang their bells reminding last minute shoppers that the time of reckoning was fast approaching. Young children, up late, lurked behind hedges, walls and snowdrifts only to leap forth with battle cries to the inundate their unwary adversaries with dreaded slush balls. The kids soon fled from vengeful adults promising unholy retribution, while the unfortunate pounded on the closed department store doors and the Santas filched a few coins from their pots.

Another Christmas tradition was honoured inside the building as the Preventers were enjoying their annual celebration, and as usual; bets were placed as to whether this would be the year a certain stoic pilot would finally settle down with his political admirer.

"Well well. Look who's decided to show his face," Dorothy remarked from her position on Quatre's lap, brushing a hand through her long blonde locks.

Six pair of eyes moved to the doorway, homing into the unusual pair that was being greeted by commander Une.

The young man barely gave his superior a nod of acknowledgement before striding further into the room, his Prussian blue eyes piercing through dark brown bangs to glare at any who stared at his unusual attire. He tugged at the bow tie of his tuxedo like he wanted to tear it off and choke someone, as his other fist remained clenched at his side, besides a holster carrying a loaded automatic.

However he did not need to worry about people watching him as all eyes were turned by the dazzling smile swept across the room by a tall, beautiful woman. Her honey-blonde hair was swept back into a silky tail tied by black ribbon, swaying between her shoulders, feathering the pale skin of her back left bare by the cut of her dark dress. Each step was made with a calm grace as she moved to the side of the scowling man; her grin becoming slightly mocking as she playfully straightened his tie. The man's stare became ice as he looked up at her, the three-inch difference in their height making her smirk all the more condescending.

"Wonder how she got him here?" Quatre wondered aloud.

"Better yet how'd she get him into the tux," Duo grinned, rising from his seat." There's an epic in that alone."

"Be seated, you moron," Wu Fei barked, yanking at Duo's chestnut braid." We don't need a repeat of what happened last time you decided Yuy was hiding something." He stared pointedly at the American with his dark, almond-shaped eyes, emphasising his point without words.

"Not the braid, not the braid," Duo yanked his prized possession from Wu Fei's hands, examining it for any damage. "It's not my fault he was so touchy, I mean all couples do weird things together."

"Duo...he was wearing her underwear," Trowa remarked sipping at his drink.

"So? He was experimenting."

"It was A PINK THONG!!!" Six different voices replied.

" So what I've worn a pair…Ow! Hilde what was that for?"

"Quiet idiot," she muttered, the scarlet flushing her cheeks stark against her midnight coloured hair. Turning quickly to the entrance she sought out her friend.

"Relena," she called, coming to her feet and trying to ignore her partner and sometimes boyfriend's exaggerated whining; waving full armed in an attempt to catch her friend's attention and cut of any line of enquiry into the American pilots choice of panties.

Heero's eyes swung to their table and he gave Relena's arm a gentle tug. Her head turned with her lips tight, and they could all almost envision the admonishment that was on her lips about protocol and courtesy. Something that Yuy never bothered to learn in his years as her bodyguard.

Heero barely caught himself before he sighed, watching Relena's azure eyes light up as they found their friends, saving him from another chastisement. She hooked her arm through Heero's as he guided her through a swarm of Preventers and various political supporters of the agency.

"Smile," she whispered to him out of the side of her mouth. "You promised to at least LOOK like you were enjoying yourself."

"I don't do happy. Especially not in this," he muttered sourly, tugging at the collar.

"Would you like me to tell Duo how I got you to wear that?" Relena asked, arching her eyebrow as she glanced at him from the corner of hers eyes.

LAST NIGHT!!!!

Heero glared across at Relena, "What?"

"Scared, Mr Yuy?" Relena gave him a sneer. The look of which was lessened by the fact that she was clad only in a deep yellow lace panties and bra.

Heero snorted and adjusted the front of his boxers (which were becoming embarrassingly restrictive), trying to keep his attention from straying from the cards to the woman across from him.

"Four of a kind...not bad," he mused, voice nonchalant and face like stone. "Fine I agree to your terms."

"Loser pays up," Relena smirked. "Spread 'em zero one."

Heero slapped down his cards and slowly swept them upon the table in front of him, "Four eights.. .Any plans for the weekend?

Relena's eyes widened in shock and Heero felt a smug smile begin to tug at the corners of his lips. Until Relena lay her hand upon the table.

"A flush!" Heero, prayed his voice did not really sound as strained as he had heard

"Royal straight flush, to be precise." Relena leapt to her feet hips swaying and hands pumping circles in the air as she did the victory dance while Heero stared dumbly into the face of defeat. He'd swear even the Queen of Spades was laughing at him. He then raised his face to stare into the eyes of doom and at the smile on her face. He swallowed audibly.

"Shit!"

Visions of a braided American spreading highly exaggerated versions of his disgrace danced through Heero's head in the form of glee-filled chibi's. He suppressed a shudder.

"Damn politicians," He thought bitterly. Damn politicians and their practised poker faces. He frowned as the memory flicked through his mind once more. And damn their hot and revealing underwear, he added cursing his testosterone-fuelled weakness.

He endured a hug from the young German woman with his hands held stiffly at his sides, as first Quatre, then Dorothy, warmly embraced Relena. Trowa and Wu Fei both merely nodded their heads but that didn't put off Relena as she hugged them both in turn. Heero removed Duo's arm from his shoulders by jamming his elbow into the American's ribs and shooting his patented glare. Immune after years of exposure Duo merely laughed, although he cradled his side with one arm.

"Nice duds Heero. Man, you must be whipped to let a babe who isn't even your girlfriend dress you. "He chuckled, which morphed swiftly into a wry smirk. "Unless; she has something on you. Hm? C'mon, scowl-boy, Share!"

Heero grunted fingers straying towards his gun holster once again, before balling into a fist, there were too many witnesses, and Duo occasionally had his uses. The point became moot as Hilde disciplined her man with an unoriginal but time-tested method. A quick yank on the American's braid had Duo yelping in both pain and distress as to his prized possession.

"Not the braid! Not the braid! " Came the familiar complaint as Hilde pulled Duo away from Heero and back to his seat, berating the American in seething tones.

"Well at least we know who where's the pants at the junkyard," Trowa remarked, his one visible green eye flashing in amusement as the ghost of a smile curled his lip. 

"Like it wasn't obvious from the girly hair," Wu Fei grunted sourly ignoring the hurt look Duo shot him at the insult to his treasure. He pulled himself to his feet "I need another drink."

"Go easy there, Wu Fei," Quatre warned, wagging a matronly finger. "You got drawn for duty tomorrow."

 "Thanks for reminding me," Wu Fei grumbled glaring at the blonde pilot, and then at the bar, then back to his friend. Finally he sighed, "They had better serve some damned good tea," he growled.

"I'll keep an eye on him," Heero said, turning to follow the Chinese agent. "I suppose I'll need a drink too," his attempt at reluctance fooled nobody.

"I'll join you," Duo shot up from his seat, finally releasing his braid from Hilde's chastising grip. "I'm not lettin' this go Heero," he called after the scowling pilot as he rose from his seat and followed his friends. 

Hilde groaned and rubbed at the bridge of her nose with her thumb and forefinger, envisioning another night tending to an unconscious and bruised partner. "Quatre...damage control," she pleaded.

Quatre sighed, placing a kiss on Dorothy's cheek, before rising to follow his three friends. Trowa raised his glass to his lips, and then paused, feeling the three pairs of eyes on him. Dorothy cleared her throat loudly. He swallowed audibly and quickly drained his glass. "Looks like I need a refill," he said as if it shocked him, rising swiftly from his seat and moving off in the direction of the four other men.

"...and then she throws me out of the room and tells me I'm sleeping on the couch. Can you believe it?"

"Hn." Heero grunted. Like the other three Gundam pilots Heero had long since developed a way of tuning Duo out, reducing him to a real time muted television, the lips moved but all he heard was blissful silence.

Duo, of course, knew about this but on faces like Heero's or Trowa's he was never a hundred percent sure. Right now Heero was more interested in his drink than in hearing Duo rant on bout his and Hilde's topsy-turvy relationship. Spinning on his barstool he turned to fully face Wufei, and present Duo with his back.

"Sally's due back today, isn't she?"

"What's your point?" Wu Fei growled.

"Er…should we take that as a yes?" Duo asked as he stepped around Heero's shoulder, and then he frowned. " Hey,where'd she go anyway?" Duo asked, "and why'd she not take Mr Personality here?" He jerked a thumb at Wu Fei who scowled in response, and cracked his knuckles. .

"She went to pick up Zechs and Noin from their annual inspection," Heero answered absently, eyes scanning the room like a sentry.  

"Inspection?" Duo gave them all a blank look.

"Mars?" Quatre said, as if explaining something to a child. "The terra-forming project? Ring any bells?"

"Oooooh right," Duo perked snapping his fingers in recognition.

Wu Fei snorted leaning back against the bar," At least we now know why Hilde tosses you out every year at the same time. Usually around her birthday, and Valentine's isn't it? Or is that a coincidence?"

The others chuckled as Duo levelled a glare at the almond-eyed agent, "At least I have someone to throw me out on a yearly basis."

Heero raised an eyebrow an Quatre exploded with laughter and even Wu Fei couldn't suppress the chuckle that fought its way from his mouth. "Maxwell, do you have any idea how pathetic that sounded?"

"Well I…uh...I mean...,"Duo floundered then slumped back into his seat. He glanced up at the bartender watching him with an amused expression. "Shut up and gimme a scotch, Alex," he said before the moustached man could say anything.

"Speaking of which, why didn't you bring Sylvia tonight?" Quatre asked turning to Trowa.

The taller man shrugged, "Thought I'd come alone this time," he muttered.

"That means you think she's getting ready to leash you," Quatre's grin became a knowing smirk." What about you? Think you could handle a commitment? Or do you want to carry on chasing the other puppies."

Trowa's green eye widened, his jaw dropping slightly as his face paled. For the stolid acrobat such a subtle shift of expression was resounding. Quatre and Duo collapsed into paroxysms of laughter, Duo's arms holding his side. Wu Fei's shoulders shook as he chuckled silently and a wry smile crept across Heero's face despite obvious efforts to repress it. Trowa glared at them with his one visible eye, before he too succumbed and his let his laughter ring, together with his friends. 

Duo wiped the tears from his eyes," Oh DAMN...you should've seen your face Trowa. Like a brick wall trying to do an impression of a deer in headlights. Oh God, my stomach hurts."

Quatre covered his mouth with his hand to try and stifle the laughter that continued to bubble up from his gut.

A sudden movement caught his attention as Une crossed the room back to the door as a familiar flash of white hair shone in the bright light. Preventer Wind was back on Earth.

The years had been kind to Zechs. His silver hair feathered lightly upon the collar of his grey coat; worn across his shoulders like a cloak, it did little to hide the power in his frame, billowing open as he shrugged it off and tossed it to the waiting doorman. His once severe face had softened in the years of peace and a warm smile shone beneath his crystal blue eyes.

Quatre turned his eyes to the Lightning Count's two companions. Like him they were still dressed in their black Preventer uniforms, indicating they'd come straight from the flight strip. The answer as to why was readily obvious, as Une embraced Zechs in a tight hold, two hands cupping his face and pulling his lips down to meet hers passionately.

The young blonde winced as he watched Lucrezia Noin look on, her beautiful face crumbling for an instant, before being reassembled into granite firmness. 

Relena glared at her brother, torn between wanting to hug him and the desire to choke him by his collar. She watched Noin's devastation, and how she tried to cover it before anyone noticed, like an ill-fitting patch over a large hole. Her heart went out to the older woman. She could not believe her brother was heartless but nor could she believe him to be so clueless as to the depths of Noin's feelings for him.

Either way, she had not seen her friend smile since Milliardo announced his engagement to Anne. She could not fathom how the woman continued to support him accompanying him on trips back and forth between Earth and overseeing the Mars terra-forming operation togther with the man the Relena knew had broken her heart.

She quickly averted her eyes as Noin glance in their direction. Pity would only make her feel worse. She looked at Sally from the corner of her eyes. The Chinese girl nodded at the unspoken words and headed for the bar and the guys. Relena watched Noin approach, her gait smooth and confident, but her steps were slow as if the floor were clutching at her ankles.

"Relena, Hilde, Dorothy," the dark haired woman embraced her three friends in turn as they rose to greet her, her lips twitched, trying to form a smile, but it would not take shape and fell back into the now familiar frown.

"It's good to have you back Lu," Relena said eyes searching the Italian woman's face. That hug had been empty.

"It won't be for long," the other replied in a listless tone. "They hit a pocket of ice, and they need us back for the melting and distribution."

"How long do you have?" Dorothy asked, leaning forward.

"A week maybe...two at the most if Une pulls some strings," All eyes swung towards the couple at the door. "Somehow I'm betting we'll get the full time..." Her voice was a dull monotone, but Relena could feel the bitterness that bubbled through her words like a miasma. She could see the pain that was welled in those eyes, but it was quickly hidden behind a wall of coldness, like ice formed across the across the surface of a frozen lake, concealing the dark waters below.

Relena recognised the signs of someone hiding all of their hurt, and although Lucrezia's eyes were not the same frozen blue steel, they reminded her a lot of Heero.

_Now, there's an idea, _her mind chimed, a light bulb flashing in her brain.

"Excuse me a moment Lu, I think I need to check on the guys," she smiled warmly at the raven-haired woman, but that lost expression never changed.

As she crossed the floor, her heels clicking against the varnished wood, something teased at her, making the hairs on the nape of her neck stand on end. It was a strange sensation like a needle scratching at the back of her mind, grating on her brain. Her chest felt hollow and her throat tight, as the needling grew.

"Hey Relena," Dup piped as he watched her approach.

 Heero tuned towards her, regarding her with his stormy, Prussian blue eyes, his head tilted like a hawk's.  Quatre smiled and Duo waved, Trowa and Wu Fei glanced in her direction before the Chinaman resumed his conversation with the circus-performer.

"What can I get for you Rel?" Duo asked, nodding his head to beckon the barman.

"Nothing right now thanks, Duo. I just need to talk to Heero for a minute."

Heero nodded and pushed away from where he was leaning against the bar, downing what was left in his pint glass and moving away without a word, glancing at Relena indicating for her to follow. Her lips pursed into a tight frown and she sighed, this was too important to kill him now.

They came to stop a short distance away, a secluded spot behind the table that housed a projector that was used for conferences and that maintenance could not remove for the party. Heero simply turned on his heel and faced her, his eyes somehow glaring at her and everything else in the room at the same time.

"Heero," she said, then paused, chewing on her bottom lips. Her brow furrowed as her mind fumbled for the words. He stared up at her blankly, his gaunt face expressionless, hard lines and angles like a cliff face.

"Heero, how would you like a partner?" she asked, just spitting the words out and into the air in a rush.

He blinked, "A partner?" She caught the barest movement of his mouth as he curved into a frown. "Am I not performing my task to you satisfaction, Relena?" If she did not know better he almost sounded hurt.

"No, Heero, you're the best bodyguard any one could have." She said quickly put her hands up before her and waving them to emphasis her dismissal. "No this is more of a favour."

"A favour?" his right eyebrow cocked up, climbing behind his bangs.

"Well I was hoping that maybe I could convince Lucrezia to join you as my guards?"

"Noin? She's a good soldier." his eyes narrowed, " but she works with Zechs on Mars why would she need to join us?"

"Oh c'mon Heero," she cried. "You know she can't keep on making those trips with him. Ever since he and Anne became and item, every second with him must have been torture, it's killing her."

 She spun around so fast her hair tossed in a golden wave, sweeping an arm in the direction of the dark-haired woman. Noin had escaped the other girls, sitting alone at one of the rickety fold out tables, shadows falling across her face and disappearing in the black of her hair. Her eyes alternated from scanning the room with an aloof glare, or from glowering at the rippling surface of her wine as she twirled the glass by the step with thumb and forefinger.

Those cold eyes hated for a brief moment and Relena followed her gaze to the edge of the dance floor, where as Commander Une stood and watched her subordinately smile and laugh as they swayed to the music, her brother appeared from behind her as if solidifying from the smoke pumped from the DJ box. His arms wrapping around her like a clock his mouth whispering in her ear and kissing at her neck.

Noin winced as if struck and immediately cast her eyes back to the depths of her drink, the red liquid sloshing over the sides as her fingers spun the glass faster and faster.

Relena saw this, and from the corner of her eye she noticed Heero tense a fraction telling her that he had seen it too.

"You see, it would be cruel to keep putting her through that," she declared turning to face Heero, whose jaw worked tightly. "I can probably convince Anne to change her assignment and talk to Milliardo, but you're in charge of my security and my Preventer liaison, I need your approval."

"Why guard duty?" he asked plainly. "There are hundreds of other assignments that would benefit from her skills and expertise."

"If she was my guard I would be able to keep an eye on her, make sure that she gets over him and gets on with her life. Otherwise she may just bury herself in her work and never move on."

"I think you're over reacting," Heero muttered. "She's a professional, she wouldn't let her feelings run wild."

Relena snorted. "She's also a woman, and a person who has had their heart broken." She glared at him with flashing azure eyes. _Emotionless idiot, _she swore mentally. She new from experience that it wasn't true, she had experienced herself how fiery or warm his passions could be, but did he have to hide them behind icy walls so well?

The thought reminded of her of the real reason behind this conversation, and again sparked the gnawing sensation that scratched at the her bind, the feeling now more intense growing like a weight on her chest. Pulling her mind from the emotional itch she continued what she was saying.

"There was something else Heero," she said, her eyes were on her skirt as she smoothed out imaginary wrinkles. "Lucrezia could really use a friend now, and I was hoping that maybe it could be you."

Heero's eyes widened and he frowned, brows furrowing. "What?"

"Well I can't be there all the time, I have a lot of meetings and paperwork. Also coming from me she will know what I'm trying to do and think its' pity, which is the worst blow to her confidence at the worst time."

"Why me, Quatre would…" he seemed uncomfortable, shifting his weight from foot to foot.

"Heero," Relena said softly, steeping closer and pressing her fingers gently on his chest. "What Lucrezia need most now, is someone strong who she can release her problems on. Someone who listens." She smiled at him, not the dazzling smile that she gave to the papers and the reporters, the small, warm smile she reserved just for her closest friend. "You've always been there for me Heero, even after we decided to just be friends. That's what Lu needs right now. Please Heero, for me?"

She tried batting her eyelashes, his eyes narrowed and then he sighed, his head nodding almost imperceptibly.

"So you will?" she asked, already catching him around the neck in a hug, which he returned, placing an awkward and on her waist.

"Don't I always," he said, a slight grin forming on his mouth.

"Yes you do," she said with an emphatic nod. Letting go of him she took a couple of steps back, easing out of his space a wide grin almost splitting her face as she stood with both hands behind her. "Well I have to go and convince Anne. It shouldn't be too hard, she's a lot more sympathetic to Lu's feelings than most think," _and a lot less than she should be, _she added silently. "So I'll let you get back to wanting to strangle Duo."

Spinning on her high heel, she began walking away, eyes scanning the room for the location of the Preventer's commander, while her mind worked in a fever for a convincing excuse to separate the woman from her brother's arms.

Then Heero's voice halted her in mid-step and making her thoughts echo in silence.

"You underestimate yourself Relena," he said softly. "The only strength I have comes from you."

She twisted to see him, her hair and dress streaming like a comet's tail, yet all she saw was his back. The black fabric across his shoulders rippled as she walked away without another word.

Again that needling feeling began to prick at her mind, stronger than ever, grown in to a hollow, making the hairs on the back of her neck stand on end. Butterflies sprang into being in her stomach, flogging her heart wildly as she watched his retreating form.

_What's wrong with me?_ she asked herself, glancing across the room and Noin who was lost in her drink, dark hair shrouding her eyes. _I have to help her; this is the right thing._ She looked back towards Heero, watching his back as he moved, a strange yet graceful tenseness to his steps like the way a lion prowled through the bush. The butterflies drummed inside her, pounding her with her heartbeat as she watched her bodyguard move. _This is the right thing, it must be. Right?_

There was no answer.

  

End Chapter One.


	2. Cadit quaestio

Superposition 

By Beer-monster and RyanEX2000

**Chapter Two:****Cadit quaestio.**

****

_Truth and tears clear the way to a deep and lasting friendship.___

**                                                                                    Unknown                                                                                                                                                      **

….errors of the past."    


I feel proud of what we have achieved the years since the wars. Like a phoenix from the ashes we have rebuilt...No, not just rebuilt improved; evolved our society, our way of life and all of humanity. Not just on Earth, but for everyone even in the depths of space."

"What was the key to our success?  Many people have asked, politicians and historians have answered. But in my opinion, it comes down to one word.

"Co-operation."

"Such a short word, and such a simple concept, but that is what has brought us all here today. All of the people of Earth's nations and the Colonies decided that it was time for peace, for something better, and together they worked for it.

"And here it is, the first step of a modern Utopia. A time when all mankind can…."

   
  
   
  
As the camera panned around for another sweep the woman's fingers danced across the console, thumb grinding upon a small touch pad. The camera swept across the still crowd, mesmerised by the young woman on stage. Tapping on a small button the woman zoomed in on a figure in the background, watching a short man dip a hand in to the pockets of a dark overcoat. She tensed, reaching for a large red button on her console and the loaded gun that sat beside it. With a sigh she relaxed as the man drew out a small touch-pad computer. She started to zoom out and then froze as her eyes caught something.   
  
A glitter of silver...   
  
No…another false alarm. It was just a woman adjusting her broach. Noin rubbed her eyes as she leaned back, then a flash of platinum hair and azure eyes.   
  
A hollow swelled in her chest, she fought it furiously but it still grew. The man still haunted her, a handsome spectre in her life. No matter how she tried to exorcise herself of her feelings, she was tortured by the memory of his voice, his smile and his beautiful eyes. 

She squeezed her eyes shut and shook her head forcefully, as if trying to dislodge the man's presence from her brain.     
  
_Stop it,_ she told herself harshly. _That way madness lies._   
  
She inhaled deeply and forced her face to granite, focusing her attention back to the screens in before her.

 Noin's head jerked up from her console at the sudden tap on her shoulder. Her hand jerked for her gun before the mug of coffee crossed her line of sight, the Starbuck's logo taunting her as steam wafted from the dark liquid.

"How many times have I asked you not to do that?" she grunted, snatching the coffee from his hand and suppressing a wince as the hot fluid sloshed over her hand.   
  
"Forty-seven times," Heero replied with a shrug taking a sip from his own cup. "Give or take one or two."   
  
Noin considered glaring at her new partner, but knew that she could not win that contest and so settled for grumbling obscenities. She wondered if she has noticed her lapse, if he thought she was weak. She jerked her head back to the monitors, hiding her face in her task. 

"Shouldn't you be out there skulking in the shadows or something?" she asked dryly.   
  
"Too clich'," was the reply. "I've shot so many would be assassins and whatnot that the dark is usually the first place they look. Besides...habits are a bad thing in our line of business."

"You mean Relena, ordered you not to skulk?"

Heero's eyes fell to floor and Noin thought she saw him fidget slightly, "Same difference," he grunted sourly and dropped into the chair besides her. Then he glanced ate her from the corner of his eyes, and the corner of his lips curled into a smile.

Before she knew it and without really knowing why, she found herself smiling back.

   
  
"But it would be wrong for any of us to rest on our laurels. There is still much to be done. We must continue to work towards a better and brighter future, healing the sick, feeding the hungry and making every single human on earth and in space feel that they are part of something greater. Something more than there own towns, cities colonies. That they are part of a family, a fellowship, and to be a reminded that each and every one of them is an integral part of the ever evolving progression of the human race.  
  
"Just look at them," Noin said as several cameras panned over the crowd, all silent and leaning forwards in their seats and in the stands, hanging on the Minister's every word. "It's like she weaves a spell over them. Why would anyone want to hurt her?"   
  
"Power..."Heero replied shortly. "She has it...regardless of how ignorant she is to just how much she has. And they fear her because of it."   
  
Noin glanced sidelong at the Japanese man, quirking an eyebrow, "Experience?"

The dark-haired Preventer frowned and leant over to adjust a few buttons on the console, the movement hiding his face behind his dark bangs. "No comment," he grunted.  
  
Noin fought a smirk that threatened to creep on to her lips and glanced at the screens.

"I think you need to see to our charge," Noin said, flicking her thumb towards the monitors that showed roaring crowd rising to their feet and applauding. Heero nodded, swiftly moving for the door.   
  
"Two hundred and forty seconds, Heero," she called as the door slammed shut.   
  
_"One point to me."_   
  
Noin smirked as she watched the Japanese man run across the monitor that gave a view of the entrance to the auditorium. Rising from her seat she grabbed the jacket of her uniform, her other hand pushing a button on her cell phone.

"Paygan? Three minutes." Short, and sharp, but that was all that was needed. Shrugging into her coat she reached for the door handle yet paused as her eyes made a final sweep across the monitor. Heero had reached the Princess, appearing behind the women and holding open her jacket. Relena smiled warmly at him and slipped into the proffered item. The act brought them close together, his arms on her shoulders protectively, tenderly. She twisted and shared and locked eyes with him over his shoulder. Her lips moved as she spoke and a wry smile found its way on to Heero's face. It was a perfect picture, and it made her heart ache for what she had lost.

_"I wonder why they broke up?"_ she quickly thought to herself as she hopped out of the van and slammed the door closed. Then she shook her head and frowned. It probably was none of her business. Heero most definitely wasn't going to volunteer any info, and she certainly wasn't going to ask Relena...   
  
She shrugged to herself. When in doubt, ask Duo.   
  
_"Madam Foreign Minister, do you have anything to say on..." __  
  
"A brief statement on..."   
  
"Miss Relena is it true that..."_   
  
Outside the convention centre snow continued to fall in swift spirals, covering everything in an almost blinding sheen of white. Arm around Relena, almost possessively, Heero glared at the reporters in turn, frosted eyes launching daggers at the swarming journalists. The message was old, and understood as the cluster of reporters slipped back just enough to allow them through.   
  
"I feel like a piece of meat," Relena muttered as Trowa emerged from the building and joined Heero, hustling her from the building to her black limo.

"I'm sorry Commander Une had to ruin your weekend plans Trowa," Relena said to the tall soldier with a small smile.   
  
The green-eyed man shook his head, "Don't worry about it," then a smile broke onto his face. "I feel sorry for Une when Sylvia gets her hands on her. Her response was quite um…_colourful._"

"That bad?" Heero asked raising one eyebrow.

"I never imagined she new such words," Trowa admitted his grin growing slightly. "I had to ask Duo the meaning of a couple of them."   
  
Relena chuckled and Heero smirked opening the door for the politician while Trowa stepped forwards, his spread arms like a barrier to the paparazzi, whose cameras created a storm of white flashes like lightning while there shouts and questions created the rumble of thunder.   
  
"Sure you don't need a lift?" Heero asked poised with one hand on the doorframe.   
  
"No thanks," Trowa replied. "If I'm lucky maybe I can catch the evening flight back to Europe. Tell Une I'll have my report faxed by Monday."   
  
Giving his friend his brief nod Heero turned and slipped into his seat beside Relena, Noin waited across from them, arms and legs crossed and that mask of stone on her face again. "Let's go," he muttered   
  
Peygan, seemingly untouched by the passing years, gave the young man a tight frown and a mocking salute, before moving the vehicle into the flow of traffic. Heero sighed and leant back in the plush leather upholstery. Noin turned around to face Relena.   
  
"That makes twelve conferences in less than two weeks. Where to next?" she asked. "Paris? London? Washington...?"   
  
"Sanq," Relena cut in simply.   
  
"What??" Noin cried, Heero simply turned towards the young woman, looking at her with his head slightly tilted to the left, brows lowered.  
  
"It's simple," Relena said. "I simply want a little personal time."   
  
Heero grunted, it almost sounded like a laugh. "Your birthday is coming up soon," he said after a moment.   
  
Noin's eyes widened slightly, "I'm sorry Relena." She said softly. "I forgot."   
  
"It's okay Lu," the blonde woman said with a warm grin, that dropped from her face suddenly leaving a scowl and a hard gaze. "Unfortunately the press will be bound to remember...so this one will be just like all the others."   
  
"Politics," Heero supplied, seeing the query in the Noin's blank expression." This is the annual chance for the sycophants and arse-kissers to try and cheat, compliment and flatter some popular and political support." His Prussian blue eyes turned glacially as he frowned. "Also Relena gets her choice in this years 'eligible bachelors'," he said harshly.   
  
"Eligible bachelors?" Relena gave an unladylike snort." You're being too polite Heero. I could think of far more appropriate descriptions. Jackassess..."   
  
The driver's sharp ears heard and the creases at the corners of his lips deepened as he frowned, keeping his eyes on the turn leading to the highway he still managed a sharp, "Miss Relena!"   
  
"Sorry Peygan," Relena muttered in a small voice with a pout, like a child chastised by her parent.

The old butler turned his attention back to the road. Relena stretched and lounged back in her chair, her head lolled and came to rest on Heero's shoulder and her eyes drooped. Within moments she was asleep, her breathing soft and regular. His harsh blue eyes softening Heero's hand moved to gently tuck a stray strand of honey blonde hair behind her hair, and lingers. His expression went strictly neutral as he locked gazes with Noin in the chair opposite, her face was unreadable but the pain in her eyes was clear. For a long minute neither deigned to break the stare. Noin broke the gaze and turned gaze back to the highway that stretched behind them through the tinted glass windows. Heero jerked his hand back from the sleeping girl as if electrocuted and cleared his throat. He glanced quickly at the raven-haired woman and noticed the scarlet flush tinting her cheeks. 

_That mask isn't as hard as she thinks, _he thought. _Good!_

_There's still hope._

For her anyway, but was there any for him?  
  
The air aboard the shuttle was cold and dense, the dark haired woman seemed determined to radiate an aura of ice as she sat behind the politician and soldier. Her eyes stared out into the cloud filled blue sky with her chin propped on her fist. The others were forced to twist in their seat to look at her, and were plainly ignored every time they did.

Heero frowned, had no explanation for her sudden shift in behaviour and he could see the Relena's eyes grow tense each time she looked at her long time friend. He knew she felt serious fear for her friend, but felt helpless to assist her without embarrassing her. The young leader continued to turn, staring at the other woman through the gap between hers and Heero's seat, and each time she turned back she shared her gaze with the Japanese, her violet irises screaming at him.

There was a flurry of movement punctuated by a sigh as Noin scrambled haughtily from her seat and strode to the rear of the plane, her heels thumping loudly as she stalked along the isle. Relena turned to Heero, her composure crumpling, she opened her mouth to speak but he was already in motion following Noin to the VIP rec room at the back of the shuttle.

Noin glowered at the dark haired man as he stepped through the door, her teeth grinding. He met her glare evenly seemingly unaffected by the fire in her stare, his face like a granite carving as he walked in to the room without a word, his gaze locked with hers. Again she was unable to content with his falcon-like stare, his eyes like frozen steel seemed to bore into her, and she turned to the walls with a snort folding her arms across her chest.

Yet her gaze were drawn back to him, glancing at him from the corner of her eyes as if her pupils were drawn shy some magnetic attraction to the cold blue metal of his irises. He never looked away from her; he seemed to lock on to her face like she was his target. He moved to the pool table, grabbing the triangle and racking the balls into the frame with mechanical movements, all the while his glare never wavered.  

"Do you have something to say?" she asked after a while shattering the silence, the hum of the shuttles engines had grown deafening."We have to talk," was all he said, thumping his stick on the carpeted floor, before stroking the tip with a cube of blue chalk. "I thought some pool might be…fun." He grabbed the other cue and held it out before him, it wasn't a gauntlet nor was it thrown, but the message was clear.

Noin felt a smirk crawl on the her face, she yanked the cue from his hand and bent over the table, the wood in her hands shot forwards like a cannon and with a thunderous clack the triangle of balls exploded apart, two striped spheres ricocheting into the corner and side pocket. The corner of her lips raised higher as she quirked an eyebrow, chalking her cue tip.

"Want to make it interesting?"   
  
Heero's face never so much as twitched, his expression still cold and blank. "What are we playing for?"   
  
"Answers."

   
"Fine," he grunted and pulled the two potted balls from the pockets and began replacing them in the frame. "But lets start properly."

"Scared you can't recover Yuy?" Noin said in an acidic tone.   
 

"Not at all," he grunted. "Just didn't want your pretty break to be ruined by a foul." He finished racking up the triangle and leant over absently, pulling the white from the corner pocket behind the older woman. Her eyes widened.

"How the…"

"You knocked it when you came over to gloat," he said with a small, smug grin that made the blood boil in her veins. "A soldier should know not to declare victory until the battle is won."

Noin's throat worked as she suppressed a growl. She lifted her hand to him, palm upwards, but he pushed past her roughly and placed the cue ball back on the table, lining it up to his liking.  
  
"A gentleman would have allowed the lady to shoot first," Noin remarked sourly as she leant against the wall, watching him line up his shot with a keen eye.   
  
The _crack_ of the white ball striking the triangle was loud. The fifteen balls scattered around the table in a chaotic series of rebounds and collisions, but a singled coloured orb, found its way into the centre left pocket. Heero rose and eyes her, blue eyes shining like polished sapphires through his heavy oak-coloured bangs.    
  
"I'm no gentleman," he said flatly, striding around the table. "How long do you plan on walking around feeling sorry for yourself?"   
  
Noin jerked upright as if slapped, blood rushing to her face and making the night black of her hair seem even darker. _How DARE he..._?   
  
"I don't see how that concerns you," she snapped harshly, hands balling into fists as the young soldier aimed his next shot. "And besides," she said with venom. "What the hell would you know about it?"   
  
"You'll get your chance to ask me when your turn comes around," he replied punctuating his words with a stroke of his cue and cracking another ball into a pocket.

"You still haven't answered."

"I'm not feeling sorry for myself," she declared firmly.

"Would you rather I call it sulking?"

"Watch it, Yuy!" she growled jabbing him with a stiff finger.

"Then what would you call it?" Heero asked, raising his voice sharply. "You sigh and  waver on the edge break down every time you think no one's looking, and when they are you try to cover it with some sort of emotionless façade."

Noin snorted, flinging her hands in the air she spun on her heel, striding away from the former pilot as she addressed the walls. "I must have hit rock bottom if Mr Ice himself thinks he can lecture me on covering my emotions." She whirled on Heero with a snarl. "That's such a hypocritical crock of bullshit!" she yelled. "I doubt you ever let a single feeling slip past that glacier you call a face."

Heero simply listened to her accusations and then nodded, his expression never shifting. "Exactly, and that's why I know what I'm talking about." His shoulders slumped for a brief moment and he exhaled softly, in what Noin suspected may have been a near silent sigh. His eyes grew distant as if he were staring at something in the distance, the past. Then he stiffened and his face hardened into rough ice once again. "You're fooling nobody, Noin, we all see your pain. You're making people worry." He named no names, but it was clear whom he spoke of.

"I don't need their pity," she said bitterly, "and I never asked for it."

"It's not pity, Noin, its concern, it's care." Heero sighed, and bent for another shot. "We're you're friends, and our concern for you is something you'll always get whether you ask for it or not," he said softly as he knocked the cure ball across the table. He caught the target on the edge and sent in sliding towards the side pocket as a steep angle, but it rebounded off the rim and rolled away.

"We, Heero?" Noin asked slowly "You're concerned for me too?"

The young man's lips twisted slightly and he glanced sidelong at her as he moved back from the table.  "Is that you're official question," he grunted, returning his attention to the table as he missed ball came to rest across the table against the side cushion.

"Why not," she shrugged. "I'll have many more chances." She launched the white ball across the green felt, making a smooth long shot into the bottom right corner.

"Yes, Noin, I'm worried as well." He said raising his eyes from the tip of he freshly chalked cue. "I believe you are my friend and I am concerned for you. That's why I am here, now."

"You're not just Heero because Relena said jump?" she asked dryly, knocking another pall into a pocket.

Heero grunted. "That woman does not have the total control over me that everyone seems to think," there was a small waver in the flat tone; Noin wondered just who he was trying to convince.

"Do you love her, Heero?" Noin asked in a rush, deciding to get to the heart of her curiosity about the mysterious soldier.

Heero frowned and stared at the table, she could see his eyes flickers as he counted the balls remaining on the table. His shoulders slumped for a brief and his mouth worked for a moment before his posture and eyes returned to stone.

"I was," he in a blunt tone.

"And now?" Noin pressed on, knowing that she had made the rights shots; there was nowhere for the stolid man to retreat to.

His brows furrowed as his lips drew into a frown. "I'm no longer sure," he said. She glared at him, leaning on her cue and tapping her booted foot rapidly against the deck. He shrugged, "I can't really say any more, it is hard to describe."

"Try!" she barked.

"We're close, there's no other word for it. It's not a romantic closeness, nor is it sexual. We just fit." His eyes stared into the beyond from above his cue tip, the blue of his eyes almost sparkled, like the light that played across the waves of a distant sea. "It is as if she were a missing piece, and that when she's there the puzzle is so complete that when that it is harder to see where on piece ends and one begins."

He chuckled suddenly, softly. Noin found herself listening carefully to the unfamiliar sound, it was husky and low with a dry rhythm to it like the music of a low instrument, imposing yet comforting.

"Duo would laugh his ass of he heard me talk like this," he muttered, but Noin did not hear him.

That feeling he had described, that closeness is what she had once shared with Zechs. As they rose through the ranks of Oz they were inseparable. They were always together. Trieze had made them his hand men, with the Lightning Count's battle skill and her cool head. Their duties had brought them together and they had just grown closer, talking constantly, sharing everything. Laughing, crying, all by each other's side. The two of them shared everything, he had told her his real name and the pain of his family's death, and she had tried to help him heal those wounds.

But the good things in life change in an instant, and in that second all is lost. For her that instant came the day she had convinced him to take his mask off, to reveal the face of her truest friend. When her eyes beheld that beautiful visage, with those crystal blue eyes framed by a veil of silvery hair, her soul wept. In that one frantic beat of her heart, she fell in love, and nothing could be the same in the wake of Cupid's arrow.

The change had not come for him, nor would it ever. To Zechs Marquise and to Milliardo Peacecraft, she was just a friend, the first person he went to with a near giddy smile to announce his engagement to one of her dearest friends.

Tears threatened to cloud her eyes, the balls on the table became blurs of colour and the green felt seemed to warp and writhe. She forced the sensation back, gritting her teeth as she fought against the surging tide. She lashed out with cue; striking the white ball above the centre and making it follow the purple striped orb into the side pocket.

"Your shots," she grunted, turning from the table quickly and facing the wall. Her hands trembled in tight fists as she tried to bring her emotions under control.

"You still love him," she heard Heero's flat voice declare from behind her, causing her to whirl on him with a snarl.

He stood at the bottom of the table, leaning against the side with his cue cradled in his arm, bouncing the recovered white ball in his palm. His stone face held no expression, but his eyes pierced through her like the gaze of a hawk.

"You've not potted any thing yet," she humphed.

"It was not a question," he replied.

She glared at him; his face was stolid yet at that moment seemed so unbearably arrogant. Her nails dug into her palms so hard that she feared she would bleed. Heero met here eyes evenly, still toying with the ball. Her breath rushed out of her in a loud sigh and she seemed to deflate, her posture crumbling as she slumped forwards bracing her hands against the table.

"I don't know Heero," she said. "Love is supposed to be a joyful sensation." A single tear trickled from her face and fell onto her knuckles. "Can it be called love when it hurts this much?"

She felt a gentle hand on her shoulder, when she turned she found herself staring into Heero's deep blue eyes. The walls of blue ice and melted and his gaze was gentle like the soft falling of winter snow. His lips held a small but warm curve.

"I think that proves that it was love," he said softly. "The hurt that does not kill us, makes us stronger. And a woman as admirable and with such heart as you have, Noin, I can't imagine you not growing stronger than all of us."

Noin could not stop the smile that broke out across her face, with she brushed the tears from her face and held her cue close to her chest. "Thank you, Heero."

"It's what friends are for," he shrugged. "Or so Duo keeps telling me."

A chuckle spouted past her lips before she knew it and laughter bubbled and rose from her chest. Heero smirked and leant over the table rebounded a green ball of the cushion and into the side pocket. Noin had watched the sphere roll into the hole and her laughter faded, she glanced at the young soldier from the corner of her eye, trying to read the question in his face. He had not moved yet, remaining bent with his cue gripped in his fists, mahogany hair falling over his eyes.

"So…" he said slowly. Noin bit her lips. "What's your favourite food?"

"Linguini," she said, feeling a wide grin split her face.

To be continued.


	3. Cogito sumere potum alterum

We flicked up the rating because of some sexual humour in this chappy. Hope you like it, but try to keep you minds out of the gutter. Superposition 

By Beer-monster and RyanEX2000

Chapter Three Cogito sumere potum alterum 

**_Always do sober what you said you'd do drunk. That will teach you to keep your mouth shut_**. - _Ernest Hemmingway_

The soft buzzing of the lawnmower pulled Relena from her light sleep, her pretty face screwing up in irritation at the insistent noise. Yawning widely, she stretched her arms over her head, the light blue nightgown conforming to the contours and soft curves of her body. With a muffled groan she rose her head, mussed tresses of honey-coloured hair hanging across her face. Swinging her feet off the bed she moved to the window, pulling aside the curtain and allowing the sunlight to wash into the room, bathing her in it's rays. She stretched her arms out, feeling life return to her body with the pull of her muscles and spun around, angling herself towards her washroom.

Her eyes fell on the couch.

She paused as she regarded his profile, dark brown bangs dusted his brow and cast shows over his peacefully closed eyes. Many nights Heero would fall asleep there, watching over her; a personal guardian angel. She felt a smirk form on her lips. He had always hated when she called him that. So she had remembered to say it often.

Heero had stopped sleeping in her room after their break up, replacing his presence with a microphone, listening from his own chamber next door. The slightest noise out of place or a mere tremor in her voice and he would charge through the door with gun in hand, hair awry and dressed only in his boxers. Usually he would simply leave, but there were times when he stayed, the times she felt low, or upset or stressed. He would sit in the chair or beside her on the bed, listening patiently, saying honest words that always made her feel better somehow, and in the morning he would be gone again, never staying the night again. He gave no reason but she knew why well enough. The temptation had been...no was still there. She shook her head with a jerk, trying to flick the memories from her head, and pulled her nightgown over her head as she stepped into shower.

The memories followed her cheeks flushing pink as she stood in the spray of warm water remembering the many showers they shared, goose bumps trailing across her skin like the ghost of his touch. Biting her lip to muffle her growl she swung the tap onto cold, yelping at the sudden shift in temperature as the cold seeped through her wet skin. She felt the niggling itch grow at the back of her mind return. The dark tickle, that had become so familiar of recent, was staring starting to swarm through her thoughts like the licking heat of small flames.

_Why now_, she thought irritably, reaching for the scented soap she favoured, scrubbing vigorously_. Nothing's changed. Heero's still Heero and I'm still me. So why do I feel so… anxious?" _

Her only answer was the chattering of her own teeth and the rush as the water splashed against the tiled floor.

Heero had always been a light sleeper, growing up in the streets before Odin and Doctor J found him, a kid learnt to stay alert. To pounce at the smallest sound. His training and the war had only reinforced that reflex. However the aura of Relena's room drowned out the whir of the lawnmower's engine and he slept on, his breathing light as he slept on his stomach. The shrill whine of his videophone did manage to piece his slumber. His eyes shot open as his body jerked upright and he scrabbled through his pocket for the screeching device, flipping it open and jabbing harshly at the receiver button with his thumb.

A white dot appeared on screen and expanded into a familiar face. Heero bit back a sigh and immediately regretted answering the accursed device.

"This had better be damned important," he scowled at the blonde haired woman who flashed a pixelled smirk from the tiny screen.

"Good morning to you too, Mister Yuy, " Dorothy purred, letting her voice slur across the title as she always did when they when they spoke. "You know you should really work on your greetings. I suggest you try 'hello' for variety."

"I suggest you braid your eyebrows," he grunted dryly. "Get to the point."

"Dorothy? Who are you talking too?"

Heero raised an eyebrow as he recognised Quatre's voice. It was then he realised that the woman was wearing a very sheer, black lace negligee,

"I see you already got 'the point'," he folded his arms glared at the phone, transmitting his irritation across the airwaves. "What do you want, Dorothy?"

"What's this," she answered in lifting a hand to her forehead in an overblown getsure of despair. "Can't a person call just to check up on a friend?"

"A person can yes,"Heero scowled,"unfortunately you don't fit the criteria."

"Dorothy?" Quatre voice drifted from the background. "I know you think these handcuffs are fun, but I can no longer feel my fingers."

Heero's throat jerked and his hands balled to fist, fighting desperately at his urge to burst into laughter. Dorothy's eyes darted to the side, frowning at something that lay beyond the limits of the small screen, before flicking back to look at Heero.

"I just want to make sure that Miss Relena is at the mall at the required time. Do you think you can handle that, Mister Yuy?" Dorothy answered,casting a glance

over her shoulder.

"She'll be there," Heero grunted in irritation." Now go away and let me

sleep."

"Oh very well,"the blonde pouted."I have other means of entertaining

myself..."

"Never ever tell me what those are," Heero grunted before tapping at a button, the screen flashing to blackness instantly.

LATER

The mall.

A bouncy tune warbled through the speakers of the mall, rippling with the pop songs that blasted from the door of the CD stores and fashion shops and the gentle classical music that wafted gently amonst the craft stores and art shops. The music was a background though, like melodic white noise to the garbled muttering, yells and conversations of the bustling people. Shoppers walked the floors, arms laden with carrier bags as they waved there arms to point across the court as they rode the escalator, or hugged the glass shop fronts, steaming the windows as they jealously ogled the merchandise and cursed the labels.

The true definition of a nightmare, for any man, even a man who had survived great battles during the war. The burning light of laser rifles or the crackle of mobile doll shield was nothing compared to the terrifying flash that appeared in a woman's eye when the saw the sign that boldly proclaimed; SALE.

"Never thought of you as a blonde, Heero," Noin smirked, reaching a hand to pull again at the yellow bang of hair that had been moistened to a blade point with coatings of dye and hair gel "You look like a rock star, or a gay guy."

The look he shot her was dark, as he jerked his hair from her fingers.

"Don't tease him," Relena scolded, giving her own hair, now coloured a midnight shade of black, a toss, her tight frown on her face."Wait till it's your turn. I have some new colours that I've been most interested to try. Maybe the bleached look?" She pouted thoughfully resting her chin on her index finger.

Noin failed her attempt not to shudder. The disguises, though simple, were enough to fool anyone so long as they didn't look close enough. Heero called it 'hiding in plain view'. Trowa apparently gave him the idea, during their swapping of old stories, when he related how he snuck aboard the_ Barge_ and was even able to fool Lady Une during his stay. Besides the blonde dye he also hid behind a pair of tinted contacts that changed the intense blue eyes to a gentle teal.. He was wearing a pair of black jeans and a white shirt divided down the middle by a thick black stripe. Relena also wore lenses, a pair of false glasses made the soft azure of her irises a pale and stormy grey.

"I think I'll pass," she replied dryly, shoving her hands into the pockets of her form fitting blue jeans as she considered ways of getting back at Heero. It was _his_ fault she was here. His and the fact that she couldn't bring herself to refuse Relena's good intentions at improving her wardrobe, even if it was for only one night. The young woman had the surliest and most stubborn politicians of the world bent to her whim, as well as the stolid Heero Yuy. What chance did she have?

"Here we are," Relena announced with a dimpled grin.

Noin glanced up at the flashing purple sign. In bold letters it proclaimed a desire hidden deep within the feminine consciousness. She turned and watched Heero's eyes trace over the words, and saw his face crease with a wince. She caught his eyes darting to give a sidelong glance at the Budweiser sign flashing in the bar across the noisy food court.

"Forever Twenty-one," Noin snorted, turning back to the sign. "Who're they kidding?"

Relena heard none of this as she had flung herself into the store and was already flitting through the aisles, fingering materials while tossing a few hopefuls over her

shoulder. Within moments she was nothing more than a bob of dark bouncing hair barely visible as it wove between the racks, the clothes shaking on their hangers in a way that eerily reminded Noin of the bush leaves as a predator stormed through the jungle.

"I feel old," she grumbled. At Heero's raised eyebrow she growled," Something to say?"

"Nothing that won't incriminate me," he said quietly, his gaze rolling over the ceiling.

Noin gritted her teeth and reduced her string of obscenities to a low mumble. She glanced at the many aisles of clothes that twisted and turned through the vast store, watching the other women flitter about the products like rats caught in a maze of accessories and brand names. "I'm surprised you let her wander around on her own in here. Anything could happen in this labyrinth."

"I did a background check on all employees, they came out clean," Heero replied with a shrug. "Besides I think any assassin would probably get lost by himself inside there." He frowned at the head of black hair that now appeared as a rapidly moving dot between the shoe shelves. "I also doubt anyone could keep up with her."

"Speaking from experience?"

"Hn."

Noin returned a watchful gaze to the store eyes tracking their charge as she browsed. She had moved closer now, and Noin could clearly see the wide smile that lit her face and the sparkle than shone from her eyes, even through the thin glasses.

"It's a good thing you picked up those disguises, if anyone saw Foreign Minister Dorlian-Peacecraft like this they would have a coronary."

Crossing his arms across his chest, Heero's eyes narrowed. "Who cares," he grunted with surprising viciousness. "She deserves moments like this," he said in a soft voice. "She deserves to feel like a normal girl, a girl without the world on her shoulders." His eyes glanced to at the floor, the green tint of of eyes seeming much more soulful than their usual icy blue. He sighed. "Even for just a moment," she barely heard him whisper.

Noin watched him watched her, and licked dry lips. The noises of the mall buzzed in her ears at the bounds of her senses, yet it seemed as if the world had gone silent, a bubble of quiet surrounded them a screamed for her to break it. Her mouth opened but she had no idea what to say. Then she felt a wry grin crawl onto her mouth, despite the inexplicable pressure in her chest, and she leaned over to gently nudge her partner's ribs with the point of her elbow.

"So tell me Mr Soldier, what do you do to feel like a normal guy?"

Heero smirked, "The usual; drink beer, watch porn and scratch myself in public."

The laughter exploded from Noin's stomach with enough force to make her stomach hurt. Her eyes watered as she swapped from snickers to guffaws, arms crossed over her stomach and clutching at her splitting sides. She was glad to hear Heero's soft chuckle behind her own helpless cackles. When did I last laugh like this?

A feminine scream cut through their laughter and she watched Heero burst into motion, shooting deep into the store in a wild dash. His gun was drawn and his finger poised on the trigger, faster than she could see, as if it had simply appeared in his hand by magic. Noin followed behind, barging shopper out of her path in her haste to keep up with the charging soldier. She saw him dart to the left and forcefully fling aside a rack of dresses and leaped to the dressing rooms, landing in front of Relena who simply stood like a statue, her glassed had fallen to reveal her wide, plate-sized eyes and her jaw hung open.

Noin shot to Heero's flank, shielding the princess and pointing her gun in the direction of Relena's petrified gaze. The weapon dropped from suddenly numb fingers.

"Trowa!" she gasped.

"Its not what it looks like," the banged man yelped, standing with arms stretched wide across the entrance of the changing room, shielding the blonde girl whom Noin recognised as Sylvia Noventa.

"Don't give me that, sonny boy," an old woman managed between cackles. "I may be old but I still know what one of those looks like."

Trowa's single visible eye widened as his face flushed to a scarlet sunset. His hands shot down to cup and cover his shame, revealing that Sylvia was in a similar state of undress; the buttons of her skirt were haphazardly fastened allowing the twisted upper band of her panties to be visible. She held both hands clamped in a cross over her bare breasts, a lace bra hanging from one fist.

"I…we…uh…" he spluttered.

Heero groaned and slapped a hand over his eyes. "I really didn't want to see that."

"I didn't mind," came a female voice from the gathered crowd.

"Your turn, baby," another woman cried at Heero. "Show us who the bigger man is."

Noin brow furrowed as she puzzled out the double meaning of that phrase. Then she felt her cheeks heat and she shook her head furiously. She was on duty, this was not the time for lewd thoughts and perverted mental pictures. You could volunteer to be the judge of the contest, a small voice said in her mind. She clenched her jaw, now was not the time for such ideas. Maybe later then? SHUT UP, she tried to quash the voice ruthlessly. She returned her eyes to the scene and saw Relena pat Heero on the shoulder.

"Don't worry Hee-baby. We both know you're still the champ."

Heero made a harsh choking noise from his throat and his eyes looked ready to fall from their sockets. Trowa frowned and covered himself tighter.

Noin's smirked as she watched Heero become fascinated with the ceiling.

_This is far better than anything I could've planned for him,_ she thought to herself, pushing the 'Hee-baby' to the back of her mind for future blackmail use.

It was with great difficulty and not a little personal embarrassment that they managed to get Trowa and Sylvia out of the store and back into the bustle of the mall where they could, hopefully, disappear. Under the current circumstances Relena merely paid for a few of the dresses instead of hanging around for Noin to try each one. That could wait till they were safe at her home. The three girls walked ahead Relena and Sylvia chatting about her upcoming birthday while Noin tried to avoid looking at the bags that held her destiny. Trowa shifted slightly towards Heero and, in quiet tone that only he could hear, said,

"You even mention this to Duo and I'll kill you..."

Heero snorted and frowned, "I've really have got to get these death threats trademarked." He glanced at the taller man from the corner of his eyes. "You're the one who has to worry. The tabloids would pay a lot of money to find out who was boinking heiress Noventa in a changing room. I thought you wanted to keep it unofficial!"

Trowa winced, "It's not like that.I mean... It's like something makes me do things I normally... ," he sighed and let his shoulders slump. "She told me she was wearing stockings."

_Yeah, that would do it;_ Heero confirmed silently feeling a pang of sympathy for his friend. The smile that had begun to form on his lips dropped as he scanned his iron gaze across the mall. "Where are the others? They were all supposed to meet us here."

"I got a late message from Quatre. He said he wasn't going to be able to make it in time, "Trowa replied and shrugged. "He hopes they'll be able to make it by tomorrow morning."

"That's not like Quatre, "Heero frowned.

"He said he had called, but Peygan said you'd already left."

"Dammit," Heero sighed." What about Duo and Hilde? Wu Fei, Sally and the others?"

"Wu Fei and Sally are stuck in debriefing back at Preventer HQ. Duo? He's anybody's guess... Probably just late."

"Very late...," Heero scowled. "We can't keep her here much longer or she'll realise something's up."

"What are you two whispering about?"

The two men jerked up and Heero bit back a curse as he realised it was Noin. He let his hand drop from the hidden holster that held his gun.

"You're going to get yourself killed doing that?" he grunted.

"Funny. That's what I always tell you," Noin said with a smirk, she shrugged her shoulders as if casting away the issue and turned to the other man. "Where is everyone Trowa?"

"Seems that he and Sylvia ARE everyone," Heero muttered. He turned around, letting his eyes rove across the bustling mall, scanning each person as they made there way between the ceaseless expanse of shops and sale signs. "We can't stay here much longer," he said twisting back to face them and locking eyes with Noin. "Where's Relena?"

"She's gone to the bathroom with Sylvia," The dark-haired woman replied, "She's already invited her for a few drinks but it's not going to be much of a party with only two people...no offence Trowa."

"None taken," the acrobat remarked dryly.

"I think he and Sylvia have 'partied' enough for the moment," Heero said, a small smirking lifting the corner of his mouth. Trowa glowered at the pilot but said nothing. Noin chuckled and patted the acrobat on the shoulder with commiseration, before turning on her heel and sauntering back to the other two women.

Heero took a few more steps before realising Trowa was still glaring at him, but he shrugged it off.

"Just talking the piss. Get used to it," he muttered, making the other man's visible green eye narrow.

"When will you let this one go, Heero?"

Heero lifted a hand to stroke at his chin in an exaggerated gesture of thought. "Let see," he murmured. "You were caught fornicating in the dressing room of a popular women's store. I don't think this one's going to die easy."

Trowa sighed and his shoulders slumped as he followed behind his friend with a deflated expression.

**"SURPRISE!!!**"

Relena stumbled back in shock, hand pressed over her heart as her jaw hung agape. Heero, drew his gun his body tensing like a panther's. He barged in front of Relena, shielding her body with his. Noin drew her own weapon ready to support him but frowned in confusion as her partner's eyes narrowed, yet he clicked the safety back on. She craned her head to glare over his shoulder at two unexpected guests, both of which wore beaming smiles of smug satisfaction.

"What mischief do you have planned this time, Duo" Relena asked, appraising the American from the corners of her eyes.

"A piss up," he chimed with a grin that threaten to split his face, "What else?"

"A piss up?" Heero repeated, quirking an eyebrow.

"Yep," Duo said with a firm nod. "We're gonna all get soaked, blathered, pissed, battered, four-sheets-to-the-wind, wasted, sloshed, rendered incapable of movement or speech, doused, tanked and wankered."

"You mean, you want us to get drunk?" Noin asked as the long-haired pilot gasped in lungfuls of air, almost suffocated by his own long-winded speech.

"That too," he said with a smile, which twisted to a grimace as a hand seized his chestnut braid in an iron grip.

"Duo, do shut up." Hilde said punctuating her command with a stiff jerk on her boyfriend's hair. She stepped around the wincing man to smile at the trio standing befuddled at the door. "Forgive him, he's been watching too much British TV."

"That's okay, Hilde," Relena said catching the German girl with a quick hug. "Though I do admire you're method of man-control. I've got to try that myself someday." Her eyes rolled to fix Heero with a pointed stare from the corners of her lids.

"Remind me to get my hair cut," he muttered to Noin from the side of his lips. His partner chuckled and followed their charge and two friends into the house.

"Oh, Heero," Hilde reappeared around the door. "Love the new look."

Heero felt his lips tightened as he forced back a groan, his eyes rolled to the door as considered flight. However he saw Duo move to close the door and lean against the white panels; whistling a shrill tune as he played with his braid. Heero frowned but turned his attention back to the women before the American noticed his attention. Either Duo had an even greater talent for irritation than Heero had guessed, or the other pilot had known what he was thinking. A shudder ran down his spine, that was a scary thought.

"I must be getting soft," he sighed quietly to himself.

"Shall we?" Trowa nodded towards the next door. He swallowed audibly as his girlfriend moved to his side, entwining his fingers in hers.

Heero and Relena followed the pair past the ornate door, with glass pains of elegant shimmering leaves. Noin came right behind, her brow furrowing as she entered the dining room and glanced at it's occupants.

Inside they found Dorothy in her ususal position on Quatre's lap, her head craned around to whisper with the blonde man whose blue eyes darted about the room like a caged animals. Catherine sat next to Wu Fei sipping out a teacup; she crossed her legs over each other as she watched the Chinese man from the corner of her eyes, occasionally smiling with polite inquiries as she tried to draw him in to a conversation. Wu Fei. leant back in to the plush leather of the couch, replying to the redheads questions in the monosyllabic grunts that seemed to make the pilots' private language. Occasionally Sally would poke an elbow into his ribs from where she sat perched on the sofa's arm, snapping an instruction to reply to Catherine's small talk more politely, a request he sometimes granted with a sullen face an a gare for the blone woman. Sally chuckled and mussed his hair, making the man grumble in Mandarin as he glowered into his teacup.

"Welcome home, Miss Relena," the soft-spoken words preceded Paygan as he slipped in quietly through the large oak portal that wafted in the scent of roasting meats as it swung closed behind him. His snowy white hair was still combed flawlessly, falling back in straw-like waves that feather the collar of his long tailed jacket, buttoned low to reveal the black waistcoat with its grey pinstripes and his perfectly knotted bow tie. His leathery face creased as he smiled warmly at the young diplomat and her friends, but still; standing stiffly as he readjusted his thin spectacles.

"Paygan," Relena sang, moving across the room in a flash to catch the old man in a tight hug. "It's good to be back," she said leaning close to place a peck on his wrinkled cheek.

"Really, Miss Relena," he admonished in a flustered tone, his face flushing red.

"Hey Paygan?" Duo called pushing himelf off from the wall, and rubbing his hands together in a way that rang alarms in Heero's head. "Has the delivery arrived yet?" he asked his face lit with a mischievous lop-sided grin.

The old butler cleared his throat loudly, as he took a step back from the still smiling girl and tugged at his tie with a bony finger. "Yes, Mr Maxwell, I'll just go and fetch it for you."

"No problem, Paygan," the pilot said flicking his long braid over one shoulder and raising a hand, one thumb held up towards the older man. "We'll get it," he swung his arm in a sweeping gesture that encompassed all of the pilots, who frowned at his attention.

"Delivery?" Trowa asked, quirking the brow above his visible eye.

"The booze," Duo said simply, his tone and the knitting of his forehead made it seem as if the other man had just asked what colour the sky was, or how many legs dogs had.

"Um…Duo?" Quatre's smile was wavering as he turned to the braided man. "Just how much alcohol did you buy,"

"And why do you need all five of us to help you fetch it idiot," Wu Fei barked as he rose from the couch, stepping away from the two women with a last darting glance.

"The usual amount," Duo replied with a shrug that matched his nonchalant tone.

Heero's lowered his head to his hand with a long sigh, rubbing at the bridge of his nose with his thumb and finger. "This could take a while," he said in a low mutter.

TWO HOURS LATER

The pop rang in the air as Sally twisted the cork from the bottleneck and poured cool chardonnay into Relena's outstretched glass, the liquid sloshing loudly as splashed into the vessel. Twisting the bottle to catch the last drop she then turned to top up Dorothy's drink, glancing at Hilde from the side of her eyes as the dark-haired girl continued her speech.

"It's like having a puppy," she said with slumped shoulders.

"Duo? A puppy?" Relena said frowning as she took a sip from her glass.

"Can't you stop him from humping your leg," Sally asked with a smirk as she set the muc h lighter wine bottle back into the nearby ice bucket, water splashing as she did.

Hilde snorted, "Excess humping is not what I would class as a problem."

"No," Dorothy agreed, "That's more like a wish." The blonde lips had curled into a devilish grin.

"There are times when I really feel sorry for Quatre," Relena said softly before turning back to the German girl. "So what do you mean by puppy?"

"Well he whines, constantly wants to either be fed or played with and I keep finding newspapers in the toilet," she replied propping her face up with one hand as she reached for her wine glass.

"Newspapers?" Sally repeated a frown creasing her forehead.

"Men read on the toilet," Dorothy supplied. " It's the only time they can do it. The rest of the time their brains are too distracted by engines, and computers, and breasts."

Relena's soft chuckle joined the other girls as Dorothy smiled into her glass. After a moment though she nodded sagely.

"It's true, even Heero does it." A giggle erupted from her mouth before she could hold it back. "I wonder if Anne suspects where most of her paper work is done." The giggle blossomed into a light peal of laughter, the sound swiftly chased by the answering cackles of all but one of her friends.

"Ew," Sally said mouth twisted into a grimace as if she had tasted something sour. "I've gotten paperwork from him before." As soon as the sentence was uttered silence hung over the four women before the laughter broke again into full blown guffaws, Hilde pounded at her chest with her palm as her mouthful of wine threatened to choke her.

"Well there is one definite way that men are different from puppies," the German woman said in a straggled voice as soon as she was able to, her face now slightly red.

"Hmm?" Dorothy grunted from around the rim of her glass.

"You can snuggle with a puppy," Hilde said with a shrug.

Both Sally and Dorothy nodded, their heads bobbing up and down in total agreement the same disgruntled scowl flickering over their faces. "Men don't snuggle," they spat simultaneously, stating the words like a axiom; a fundamental law of nature, which it was to any woman.

"Never," Hilde grunted on a swift blow of air that stirred her dark bangs. "Why not? Is there something wrong? Does our skin suddenly become toxic just after sex. Are they afraid that the sweat will dry and we'll be stuck together at the hip, stopping them from enjoying a browse of the sports section when nature calls.

"I know," Dororthy sighed, flicking a wave of yellow tresses over her shoulder. "Quatre is a sweet man and a good lover, but when its over its like the end of a war. We should be basking in the after glow but he's retreating across the border and setting up a fort. That is, until the next time he wants to 'enter my territory'."

"The worst thing about it," Hilde said reaching to refill her glass, "is that he complains about it as if its my fault. He says he never has any room in the bed. He doesn't seem to realise he would have more room if he wasn't insistent on having two foot of empty bed between us like a quarantine zone. While at the same time he hoards the covers as if to make insulation. Why can't he come closer I don't bite."

"You don't?" Dorothy asked with a quirk of one of her forked eyebrows.

Hilde paused mid-pour, the wine stream of win seemed to halt into the bottle. All eyes swung to the blonde, whose lips quivered as she clearly fought against a growing grin.

"Dorothy," Relena said slowly, the silence cracking like glass. "Do you remember what we said about giving too much information? We are running out of places in which to repress these scary mental images."

"Sorry Ladies," the other girl said with a Cheshire cat grin that proved that she was anything but sorry. "So how about you, Miss Relena, how did Heero avoid snuggle-time?"

"Ha," Hilde barked a dry laugh. "The man's an iceberg, Dorothy. Trying to snuggle would be like a recreation of the titanic disaster." The German chuckled at her own analogy until the politician broke in with a sharp

"Actually-" her tone was like a blade that cut the laughter cleanly. She paused regarding the others with a raised eyebrow, and a wry smirk that could only be described as enigmatic. "-Heero had no troubles with snuggling, I quite often woke with his arms around me."

"Really?" doubt was layered thick over Sally's tone. "Heero?"

Relena nodded, "What can I say, he was even cuddlier than the teddy bear he bought me." Her lips pursed, the line of her mouth firming to a flat line before she continued in a harder tone. "I did have a problem with him bringing the gun to bed every night though." She sighed with a slump and shook her head slowly. "Imagine my disappointment when I turned over to find out the hard thing poking me every morning was just his magnum."

The four girls collapsed into paroxysms of high-pitched cackles once again. After a while Dorothy's chuckles faded to a wry grin that made the corner of her lip quiver as she tried to contain herself long enough to clear her throat.

"I was just thinking," she said in a soft voice. "Hilde keeps us up to date on the trials of Duo Maxwell. Relena-dear has told us of the legend of Heero Yuy, and as you often complain you know all of Quatre Reberba Winners dirty little secrets." She paused as Hilde muttered something beneath her breath, only catching the word understatement. "However there is a source of information on one Gundam pilot, that has as yet been untapped."

"Don't look at me," Sally said holding up her hand like a shield as the eyes of the other two women rolled to lock on her. "There are some packages that should never be opened, and Wu Fei is one of them."

Relena saw the same doubting frown cross her friends' faces that she knew was creasing her own brow as they glanced at each other, then at back to the Chinese woman from the corners of their eyes.

"So you don't want to see his package then?" Hilde asked, hiding her smirk behind the glass tilted to her curving lips. Relena felt a similar twist to her own mouth as she watched Sally's cheeks flush a bright dusting of scarlet.

Dorothy cleared her throat again, calling the attention back to her, punctuating the sound with another flick of her long yellow locks. "I had been talking about Trowa Barton," her head turned slowly, her pointed gaze like a guiding spotlight that lit onto Sylvia Noventa like a gun sight. The short heiress sat between Noin and Catherine on the plush sofa, laughing softly at some comment that a smiling Quatre made as he lounged with crossed legs on the patterned carpet at Noin's side, fingers idly flicking at the ring pull of his beer can.

"You don't mean…?" Sally began, Dorothy nodded.

" I don't think she's ready," Relena pleaded.

"It's now or never," Dorothy asserted, scooping her wine glass by its stem and rising to her feet, taking a stumbled step to the side as her balance wavered. "It's time."

"Time for what," Sally inquired as she too pushed herself up, ice bucket and bottle in had.

"The inquisition," Hilde answered in a slow whisper.

"Oh," the older woman deadpanned. "Oh dear."

"What about Quatre?" Relena gasped, eyes darting from Dorothy to her prey and back. "We can't do it with him there."

"I'll take care of it," the tall girl said baring her bright teeth with a frightening grin. Her hips swayed as she approached the four friends chatting comfortably on the cough, her gait was slow and smooth like the prowl of a hunting cat, hair rippling like a golden tale with each sashaying step. As soon as she was close enough she placed her palms against the cushioned arm of the sofa leaning forwards at the waist to address the three women in a whisper that could have been heard clearly ten paces away.

"Have any of you girls got a tampon I can borrow," she said without a single glance to acknowledge her boyfriends proximity. "I've got a busy day tommorrow and couldn't bear to get cramps all day."

The effect was immediate Quatre jerked as if electrified, he body stiffened and his eyes bogged in their sockets. He was on his feet in a flash, scrabbling up with flailing arms, fumbling with the empty can in his grasp.

"Hey look I'm running empty," he chuckled nervously, hand rubbing at his scalp. "I'd better go get another," he swallowed, throat bulging with a gulp. "Besides, I think Duo needs my help with something." The can collapsed in a spasmic clench of his fist. "Um…talk to you later…um bye."

He almost barged into Sally as he moved away, feet pumping in a stiffened walk that was just short of a mad dash.

"Works every time," Dorothy murmured as she watched the boy flee, her gaze then swung back to Sylvia, joining the head tilting as she joined the raptor stares of her other three friends.

"Hey girls," Sylvia said with a small wave, her shoulders hunching as she tried to bury herself in the cushioned leather of the couch. "Um…what's up?"

She shivered at the three wry grins that answered her.

A burst of released air rushed out as Duo pulled the tab on his can of Carlsberg and a thick white froth surged from the opening cut into the shining Aluminium. He brought the can to his pursed lips and hoovered the spilling beer foam with a loud slurp. His tongue snaked out to lick the last remnants from the corners of his lips, before he resumed his conversation.

"I mean why does it bother her so much, its not like I use the paper instead of toilet roll," he grumbled.

"Unlike when you lived alone," Heero said earning a sour glare from the braided pilot from across the table they sat at, the shining polished ash surface buried beneath a mound of crushed beer and and shards of broken Pringles.

"Anyway," Duo said tightly, "I just don't think it fair that she complains about a newspaper in the bathroom when all round our house is a library of crappy women's mags."

Wu Fei snorted, "Women read the most insipid garbage in those magazines," he grunted.

"I know," the American agreed with an emphatic nod that set his long braid bobbing. "I mean what the use of all these pages of celebrity photos, when the all have their clothes ON!"

Trowa chuckled at the remark as he reached over to load the curved surface of his tortilla with more spiced salsa. "What I don't get about those magazines is why they fill the things with huge articles about how men are cheats, scoundrels and love-rats, but then add a pull out spread on fifty things to make him happy."

Heero snorted, "That's completely ridiculous."

"I know, a bit of a imbalance don't you think," the acrobat said as he popped the snack into his mouth, rubbing the remaining red sauce from his lips as he crunched noisily.

"Not that," Heero replied lifting his can to his lips and taking a long pull. "The fifty things. That's crap. There's no fifty things, there's three at most."

"Yeah," Duo said with a slightly screwed grin as he lifted his hand, three fingers extended. "Feed me, fuck me, and wear stockings." He curled one digit at a time as he counted off his points, until he was just holding up a limp fist that quickly darted out to snatch another handful of peanuts and pour them into his open mouth.

"You forgot: 'Don't talk so much,'" Wu Fei grunted fingers toying with his bottle of Tsing Tao.

"You wouldn't say that if you ever got the silent treatment," Duo murmured with a frown, word followed by another swift swig from his beer can.

"Speaking from experience?" Heero asked, quirking an eyebrow as he glanced at the American at his side. Duo glowered darkly, scooping up more nuts and shuffling them into his mouth, jaw working to munch on them noisily. When he swallowed with an audible gulp the braided pilot turned back to the smirking man on his right whose green eye flashed with amusement from beneath his heavy brown bang.

"So come on, Trowa" he said nodding at the acrobat. "What are these forty-seven ways to happiness that we seem to have missed."

"Did one of them involve spicing up your love life with none-discrete sex in a public place?" A fifth voiced asked in a sly tone. Heero glanced up to see Quatre standing behind him, a wide grin lighting his face as he watched Trowa, who seemed to be trying to sink deeper into his chair.

"I thought you said you wouldn't tell anyone," he hissed at Heero from the corner of his mouth. Heero gave a small shrug but could feel a smirk tug at the corners of his lips.

"He didn't," Quatre said, pulling out a chair and taking a seat next to Wu Fei. "I tapped into the Girl-Net."

"Girl-Net?" Trowa's visible eye flickered as he blinked.

"The oldest, fastest and most widespread global communication system ever invented," Heero explained.

"Yeah and used for nothing but pointless gossip, hairstyle tips and discussion of the different types of pou pourri" Wu Fei snorted, setting his empty bottle aside and folding his arms across his chest.

"Aw be kind Wu Fei," Duo said with a grin. "If it wasn't just used so women can gossip, they'd put all those nice faceless communication executives, like Quatre here out of business."

"Oh, perish the thought." Quatre said drily as he popped the cap from a bottle of Stella Artois.

"So how did they get rid of you," Heero asked, guessing from the chorus of high pitched cackles coming from the women across the room that 'girl talk' was now is session.

"They played the period card," he said sinking lower into his chair.

The other four men winced.

"It's not fair," Duo cried, voice slurring slightly "That's just a sneaky advantage.It's like a secret weapon. They say the words period or hormones, and we flee the field like a poison gas attack. Yet there's nothing that we guy's can say to get rid of them." He sighed, and brought his can up to his lips for another long pull. "I once tried to get rid of Hilde, by talking to Heero about my jockstrap. She just sat there, and asked questions like it was a damn lecture." He turned to nudge the Japanese pilot. "You remember that, Heero?"

"Unfortunately I do," he grumbled, "and I'm still having nightmares."

"Anyway," Quatre said, clearing his throat loudly. "I think we're getting away from the issue, that of Trowa's new habit for public appearances."

Four pairs of eyes swung to lock on to the cringing acrobat. Trowa flinched under his friends intense glares and his shoulders slumped. He stared at his fingers as they flexed around the cold aluminium of his beer can, hiding his face behind the shroud of his thick hair bang,

"So I take it you and Sylvia, are getting along well?"

"So how are things going with you and Trowa," Sally asked Silvia, as Hilde filled the blushing girls glass until the wine sloshed over the rim.

"Um….well…good…I guess," Sylvia fumbled.

"You guess?" Relena repeated and then shook her head with a sigh. "Not good enough, we're going to need details."

"Well, what sort of details," the smaller woman asked, squirming on the couch, the plush leather squeaking with her motions.

"Why is it an I guess?" Sally prompted.

Sylvia's face glowed with a pale pink flush, "It's just I'm nor sure what we have. Is it love or just…" she trailed off, her soft voice disappearing beneath her breath and she dropped her gaze to the rippling fluid in her glass.

"Just what…?"

Sylvia's blush blossomed into full scarlet, "If it's just great sex."

Hilde burst into cackles and Relena's own musical laughter followed close behind. Sally's face split with a wide grin, shoulders shaking with silent chortles that caused her to pump into a chuckling Catherine. Dorothy patted Sylvia's hand sympathetically.

"Don't worry, I know how to find out. There's a test?"

"A test?" Sylvia said with a blink.

"Yes all you have to do it take a note of your situation, like now for instance."

"What about now?"

"Well ask yourself this: Are you and Trowa in the same room at the moment?"

Sylvia turned, eyes darting to where her boyfriend sat amongst the other pilots, the tall acrobat trying desperately to become small enough to hide behind his beer can.

"Yes," she said slowly, brow furrowing as she turned back to the other blonde.

Dorothy's head bobbed in a slow nod, "And are the two of you naked and oiled up like a couple of Greco-roman wrestlers."

"No," Sylvia snapped, face suffused with red.

"Then it must be love," Dorothy concluded.

The cap rang faintly as it was pried from the small bottle and clattered to the cold patio tiles. Foam surged up the neck and frothed over the top, running in white rivulets to Noin's hand. She threw her head back to catch the gassy brew, chugging away at the foul tasting, yet strangely refreshing alcohol. Duo's brand had a bit more bite than the beer she was used to. She glared at the shapes and swathes of pale moonlight that danced across the ruddy brown glass as she withdrew the bottle from her lips.

Another errant gust of ice wind caressed her skin, making goose bumps tingle along the flesh of her arms and her spine as the cold air cut through the thin material of her powder, blue, sleeveless blouse. She, for the fourth time in this hour, cursed herself for not grabbing a coat before she had snuck out of the house. However she could not feel at ease inside; the girls were giggling and chatting away about their men and the guys were swapping crude details, and dirty jokes. Everyone was either talking of romance, or love, or the act of making love in varying degrees of perverse details.

She had nothing to add, and a lot of pain to feel from listening. Her sex life was missing in action and there was no search party; and the love of her life had fallen for her dearest friends and in his own naivety, expected her to be happy about it- and of course she was. During the day she put as much effort into being as pleased as she could that Zechs had found the happiness that had been so missing from his life; and sometimes she almost believed it.

But at night she still had the dreams.

Not tonight she promised herself, taking another pull from her beer bottle and gazing up at the waxing moon. The cold would not bother her once she had finished the beer and the other box at the side of her chair. If she was too drunk, to think, she was to drunk to dream.

"Noin?"

She did not turn around, that flat voice could only belong to one person. She brought the bottle away from her lips and wiped her mouth with the back of her hand, but kept her head tilted up towards the silvery disc in the sky, feeling the same fascination she had always felt since she had first seen the moon from the black void of space. Behind her, her guest's feet slid in hushed whispered across paved floor, before hearing a familiar chime and clatter.

"Those are mine," she said, turning to face Heero as he caught the surging foam from his beer.

"I know," he replied as if asked the time, and took another swig.

"Bastard," she muttered feeling a smirk curve her lips and rob the word of its sting.

"Orphan, technically," he muttered, with a small shrug, "But who knows. You might be right."

"I must be drunk," she declared, lifting an eyebrow as she regarded him from the corners of her eyes. "That almost sounded like a joke, though not a funny one."

Again he shrugged; "Take it or leave it." He paced across the patio and pulled up another of the white, wire-frame chairs, the metal scraped across the concrete with a high-pitched wail. The cushion moaned as he slumped down across from her. He leaned back idly, legs outstretched and with crossed ankles beneath the matching, garden table.

She came forward in her own seat, leaning on her elbows and glaring at him with narrowed eyes. "What are you doing, Heero? Did Relena send you to check up on me? Afraid I would drink myself into a depressed stupor?"

"Party's over," he replied mildly, dismissing her implication with a flick of his waving gesture. "She's showing the others to their rooms." His icy, blue eyes flashed in the night's shadows as he fixed her with his stare. "Besides, isn't that what you're doing?"

"Maybe," she acknowledged in a guarded tone. "Have you come to warn me not to."

Heero shook his head. "You're old enough to have the right to act stupid if you want." He hefted his beer towards her, drawing her attention to the small bottle of fizzing beverage; through the brown tinted glass the foam seemed the same dull orange as the ambient lights that tainted the sky above.

"Alcohol is only a temporary solution, when it's any sort of solution at all," he remarked, and his cold gaze never left her as he brought the bottle to his lips and took another long pull of the dark brew. "However in some cases it's better than no solution at all." The glass thunked as he placed it back on the table back to the bottle, and his lips curved into a small smile. "I have heard it is bad luck to indulge, alone though."

Noin's mouth had moved to imitate the Gundam pilot's sly smirk, but instead felt her face split with a wide, and very genuine grin.

"Well we know how important luck is to a soldier," she said lifting her bottle towards the man opposite her. "To luck," she pronounced.

"To luck," Heero echoed, raising his own beer.

The sound of glass clinking gently together rose into the moonlit sky, as it did many more times that night, as two friends drank away their pain and took pleasure in each other's company.

Heero's mind fought it way into the waking world, feeling swamped by thick clinging drowsiness that it had to flail wildly to escape.

It soon wished it had not bothered.

Dull, numbing pain rang through his head like the pealing of some terrible bell. He could feel the blood pump through the throbbing veins in his head like hammer blows to his skill, and the pounding of his heart in his chest seemed deafeningly loud. His senses were on overdrive, overloading his mind with painful stimulus. What was worse; was that his brain rejected the information as nonsense. His body told him that he was floating in free fall while the world spun around him.

With a small groan that seemed like a roar, he forced his eyes to open. The lids widened a crack and then snapped closed again from the painful barrage of light that surrounded him. He tried again but his eyes seemed reluctant to cooperate. He shifted his body and rolled on to his side, the damp silk clung to him as he moved.

_Wait a minute_, his brain piped up sluggishly. _I don't have silk sheets!!!_

This startling deduction slapped his mind into action and his eyes shot up and his jerked out of what he now realised was a plush bed.

The room was unfamiliar; as Spartan as his own yet slightly and the door was out of place though a Preventer uniform jacket hung from a peg nailed to the white-panelled portal as it did in his own. A desk was nestled at one side of the room fixed with a small mirror at the bottom of which was several vials and tubes of what he recognised as make up. A flicker of white caught his attention and he saw a bra hanging like a decoration from the footboard of the bed, folds of blue silk gathered beside it with light shimmering on its surface from the crack in the dark curtains.

_So, I'm in a girl's room, _he deduced before his heart leapt into his throat and he threw a wide-eyed look at the limp Preventer coat.

_Girl? Preventer? _The threads began to weave in his clouded mind, and he did not like the pattern. Detecting movement and hearing a soft-voiced sigh he slowly turned to his side, hands clutching the sheets in white-knuckled fists. He swallowed with a deep gulping noise, making his dry throat sting, and forced himself to look…

At a pair of bloodshot blue eyes, rimmed with red veins and smudged eyes shadow, veiled behind wet, straggled stands of black hair. Those eyes widened and he heard the inhaling of a deep, ragged breath.

Acting quickly he clamped his hand over Noin's mouth, muffling her scream with his palm.

"Quiet, you idiot," he hissed. "Are you trying to wake up the entire house?"

Her brows lowered as she glared at him, but her head moved in a small nod and he slowly removed his hand.

"What the hell are you doing in by bed?" she spat quietly.

"I don't know," he shot back, before cradling a hand to his pounding skull. "The way I'm feeling I'm surprised I know my own name."

Noin gave a low groan that expressed his own sentiments perfectly. "What on Earth did I drink last night?" she muttered, rubbing at her reddened eyes.

"Too much," Heero remarked, blinking rapidly in the hope it would clear the blurring motes that danced across his vision. "The last thing I remember is helping you to your room after you fell over."

"Hey," Noin protested, sitting up and frowning at him with her hands on her hips. "You weren't exactly stone cold sober yourself." She folded her arms across her chest and her jaw dropped as she realised that her breasts were pressing uninhibited against her forearms. One look at Heero's suddenly wide eyes confirmed what she feared.

"Oh my god," she yelped, grapping a handful of silk and yanking covering herself with the sheets.

"Shh," Heero said emphasising the request by placing his index finger over pursed lips.

"Don't 'shh' me, you idiot." She pried her the sheet from herself and quickly stole a glimpse beneath. A small sound came from her throat and she clamped the swath of silk tighter against her body.

"Heero," Noin said in a weak, straggled voice. "Please tell me you are wearing something beneath the sheet."

"I am."

Her shoulders slumped as her whole body seemed to relax and she let out a long, refreshing sigh. "Thank god."

"Unfortunately, it's just my watch."

"Your watch?"

Heero nodded.

"And you are otherwise naked?"

"Well something seems to be stuck to my back," he answered, brows lowered as he leaned around and craned his arm back at an awkward angle, feeling for the object. It came off with an audible peeling and he held it out for his inspection.

"Oh shit."

Noin rolled over and glanced at his hand. Between his middle and index finger was clamped a small rectangle of thick, blue foil. The edges were fringed with triangular cuts and a jagged tear ran from one edge revealing the shining, metallic material inside. The ring shaped impression left in the crinkling package gave her no doubts as to what had once been its contents.

"Oh fuck."

Heero lips drew into a wry line as he winced, "It looks like we did."

**To Be Continued. **

Yes…we are evil.


End file.
